


Legacy

by cordeliadelayne



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Episode Related, Episode Tag, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-03
Updated: 2015-04-03
Packaged: 2018-03-21 00:41:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3671103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cordeliadelayne/pseuds/cordeliadelayne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the bad guys and the good guys were shooting at them, Coulson got them through it. He might be a crazy zombie, but Trip figures the man knows what he's doing. Mostly. Hopefully persuading his mom of that isn't going to prove too difficult.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Legacy

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place just before episode 121 – Ragtag. Spoilers for all of season one. Written before season two started airing.

 

  
It wasn't until Trip was being pulled into his mom's house, with her hugging him and checking for injuries in the way that only mom's can, that he fully absorbed the effect of SHIELD's collapse. When you were in the thick of things it was easy only to think about putting one foot in front of the other, and not to pay too much attention to the bigger picture. In many ways, that's what your team leader was for. And he'd always been damn good at following orders.

He had his mom and grandad to thank for not following them blindly, though. He wondered if that was why Garrett had never tried to recruit him, he'd known it was as fruitless as trying to get Coulson to turn. He wondered too how many times he'd come close to being crossed off, just how long it would have taken for him to realise that what was wrong at the core of SHIELD was wrong at the core of Garrett too.

He had a hell of a lot of thinking to do. Not least as he explained all he could to his mom, who was quietly devastated that an organisation that had always been so important to their family, in many ways to their identity, had proved to be such a spectacular fraud.

“And this man you're following, he's a good man?”

“When the bad guys _and_ the good guys were shooting at us, he kept it together, kept us safe. I think he might be the real deal, mom.”

His mom had smiled and headed off to the attic to get her father's box of tricks. Captain America had been the real deal too and that had turned out pretty okay.

While his mom was out of the room he picked up one of the photographs that had pride of place on top of the TV. It was an early Howling Commandos photo, with all of them sitting around a table in some bar somewhere, smiling despite the horrors they were facing every day. Growing up he'd always been so proud that he had people like his grandad and Captain America to look up to. His mom had always told him he'd known right from wrong long before he could walk and talk. She'd worked hard, especially after his dad had gone, to build on her father's foundations, to give Trip everything he needed to help him make a difference in the world. And that's just what he'd believed he'd been doing.

He'd believed in SHIELD. He'd believed in Garrett.

He put the photograph back down. He refused to believe that it was all lies. SHIELD had helped people. People were alive right now because of what they'd done. He had to believe that there was more good in SHIELD than bad. Coulson's team seemed as good a bunch of people as any to throw his hat in with.

There was no doubt that they were odd, even for an organisation that spawned the Avengers. But somehow they worked. Even when Trip hadn't understood where they were coming from, and hell even now he knew there were some serious secrets being kept from him, he'd still felt that their driving force was doing the right thing. And that was definitely the kind of team he could get behind.

“You could leave,” his mother said. He turned to find her standing in the doorway, his grandad's case lovingly wiped clear of dust, just as he remembered it.

He thought about Simmons, tears streaming down her face even as she reported clearly that her friend was a murderer. He thought about Fitz, desperate to believe in the good he'd thought he'd seen in Ward. He thought about Skye, barely an agent yet running rings around people who'd hidden in the shadows for decades. He thought about May, one of the most faithful and skilled agents he'd ever met. And he thought about Coulson, the very definition of a zombie if Trip had ever seen one, but a man who was fiercely loyal not just to his team, but to the greater good.

“I can't leave, Mom. Now is not the time to leave. Now's the time to stay and fight.”

She didn’t look surprised. Instead she put the case down and kissed Trip on the cheek.

“Your grandad would be so proud of you. Your father too.”

Trip nodded, words stuck in his throat.

“But if you come back dead...” his mother warned, “I will not be responsible for my actions.”

Trip smiled. “Duly noted, ma'am.”

Then, before she could object, he pulled her to him and held her in a tight embrace.

“You just be careful, young man. There are things out there...There are things out there no one should ever have to see.”

“And I'm protecting people from them, mom. Just like he did. SHIELD's purpose didn't die when SHIELD did, just like Captain America's message lived on all those years he was on ice. There are things we need to do. Wrongs we’ve got to put right. People we've got to save. We're not going to let HYDRA take everything away from us. Hell, no.”

He let his mom go and she picked up the case and handed it over, taking a moment before she let it go completely.

“You know I'd never try and talk you out of it. And I’d be disappointed if you did anything else. So, take whatever you need. Just, come back safe.”

He left not long after that, aware that his team would be waiting for him. And yeah, it did feel pretty damn good that he still had a team. People who had his back, and whose back he had in return.

Whatever happened next, no matter what the fallout from SHIELD's implosion might be, for the first time since their crazy ride began Trip was confident that they had a winning chance. And that he was finally back on the winning side.

All they had to do now was save the world from a mad man.

Easy.


End file.
